Manteca is addressing day-to-day as well as long range homeless issues.

Assisting the homeless in Manteca is a societal issue driven by such dynamics as lack of affordable housing, mental illness, and substance abuse, among others. 

n recent years, the number of unsheltered or unhoused individuals has increased, not just in Manteca, but throughout the state of California. 

“Reducing and assisting the unhoused continues to be a top priority for the Manteca City Council and City staff,” said City Manager Toni Lundgren.

The City offers a host of services intended to assist the unhoused.

For example, the City’s Homeless Emergency Center is operated by His Way Refuge Center at 555 Industrial Park. Drive.

His Way’s mission is to provide a clean, stable, and supportive environment so that the residents can begin to fine-tune their lives.

Additionally, His Way operates 11 homes in Manteca and plans to open several more in the future through His Way Recovery House, Inc. 

These homes are operated by onsite volunteers who assist guests in maintaining a home, free from drugs or alcohol.

Manteca is also changing the municipal codes to allow new classifications of housing in the downtown area. 

The current downtown zoning designations of CBD-1 and CBD-2, for example, allow for multi-family dwelling units and live-work developments. CBD-2 also allows for residential care homes, supportive housing, and transitional housing.

This will change with the updated General Plan. 

All properties currently zoned CBD-1 and CBD-2 will be given the Downtown land use designation, which will allow for multi-family housing; it will also create a Downtown zoning district, which will allow for multi-family and multi-family mixed-use projects of all affordability levels.

The City has obtained approximately $20 million in funding to develop an unhoused navigation center and housing on a parcel south of downtown Manteca.

City staff, with the support of Senator Susan Talamantes Eggman, successfully applied for, and secured, a $16 million grant from the State of California to address challenges being faced by the unhoused. 

The team applied for and was granted, additional funding of $2 million from the County and the remainder comes from federal HUD Community Block Development Grant funding or CBDG.

Beyond these services, Lundgren points out that the City is working with Vanir Construction, which is doing a progressive design-build for the new Homeless Navigation Center.  

Design-build is a method of project delivery in which one entity — the design-build team — works under a single contract with the project owner to provide design and construction services.

“This means one entity, one contract, one unified flow of work from initial concept through completion,” Lundgren pointed out. 

Founded in 1964, Vanir is now a national leader in program, project, and construction management and real estate development.

Manteca has also contracted with Mercy House, which is well known for comprehensive supportive services for a variety of unhoused populations. 

Lundgren also points out that the City is partnering with Golden Valley Health Centers to provide healthcare for the unhoused. 

As a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), Golden Valley follows Federal and State regulations regarding the type and quality of health services provided to anyone, regardless of their ability to pay, including free care.

The Manteca Police Department has been responsive to concerns related to the unhoused and continues to actively monitor incidents while respecting the rights of unhoused individuals and ensuring public safety, according to Mayor Gary Singh.

The Management Analyst in the Housing and Homeless Division for the City is Vielka Guarascio. “If you are living unhoused or at risk of becoming unhoused, call us at (209) 456-8556; we can assist in connecting you with accessible resources and supportive services,” says Guarascio.

For more information on Housing and Homeless Services, please email homelessdivision@manteca.gov or call (209) 456-8556.